United against the 'Foreigner': Assam social movement leader's take on 'infiltration' and 'the influx problem' is standard fare

[In Assam political actors would go bust is they dont take an anti foreigner stand. The entire political spectrum seems united in peddling xenophobia against the foreigner, who in the first place seems not the problem according to census figures. Communal propaganda has made real the unreal. The bogey of so called influx by Bangladeshi migrants is taken as socially accepted even though it defies empirical data. 'Fixed and doctored data' on migration has come to rule the roost. Progressive social movements should have the courage to openly propose open borders where Assamese can go and work and live in Bangladesh and vice versa. But that is asking for the impossible it seems . . . HK/sacw.net]

From: The Times of India

'Movement against infiltration should not be communal'
TNN Sep 23, 2012, 04.09AM IST

GUWAHATI: Seeking a rational solution to the problem of influx from Bangladesh, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has said that the issue must not be viewed from a petty communal perspective.

KMSS general secretary Akhil Gogoi said the ongoing protests against infiltration in the aftermath of Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) violence has evoked strong sentiments among people who want a permanent solution to the problem. However, the movement should be carried out in the spirit of secular values and there should not be any room for communalism in the movement against infiltration, he said.

"One's religious identity cannot be the basis of identification of foreigners. It is not a Hindu-Muslim issue. All communities with different religious affiliations want a solution to the influx problem. There cannot be any communal perspective to the issue. We should shun all communal and religious fundamentalist forces for a secular perspective to the movement," exhorted Akhil.

KMSS said as March 25, 1971 has been decided as the cut-off date for detection of foreigners, the prime task is to identify those who came before and after this date. "The government should look at the National Register for Citizens (NRC) of 1951 and voter's lists of 1961 and 1971 as tools for updating the present NRC and identifying foreigners," Gogoi said.

At the same time, the former Team Anna member said discussions should be held with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal for accepting their citizens if they were identified as foreigners in the state. He said the issue of infiltration has been kept alive by vested groups either for vote bank politics or to further their communal agenda in the state.

"Those who oppose the problem of foreigners' influx do not know the history of anti-infiltration movement in Assam. There are also those who want to find a solution to the influx problem, but have only complicated it further by giving it a communal colour," he added.